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Commtest
by R. Wayne Ruddock
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The only way to determine which camera is the right one is to consider all of
the requirements of your application, and then see which camera fits. For
example, if you are going to do electrical inspections and require accurate
temperatures, you need to determine the smallest object you will require a
temperature of and the farthest distance you will be from that object. Using
the information in the IFOV and IMFOV section of this article, you can calculate
the value you need for an IFOV number and compare this to the
manufacturer’s specifications. If you need to be able to measure 400°C, a
camera which only measures up to 250°C will not be suitable, no matter what
the price.
Price
Although many infrared camera purchases are driven by price, price should be
a secondary consideration after the camera’s specifications and features have
been considered. The price of infrared systems vary from approximately
$4,000 US to in excess of $100,000 US. Sometimes budgetary restrictions are
a determining factor when choosing an infrared system.
It must be realized that the saying “you only get what you pay for” is true
when considering an infrared camera. There is no sense in buying a camera
based strictly on price if the camera is not capable of performing the
application it was purchased for. On the other hand, there is no benefit in
paying for features and functions in a system that will never be used in the
application the system was purchased for.
Specifications
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Thermal Resolution
Temperature Range – What will be the highest and the lowest temperatures
of the objects you will be trying to look at? This is the first question you must
consider. Many of the newer, simple, low-cost cameras only view objects from
~20°-40°C to 150°C. Some of these cameras measure up to 250°C. These
temperature ranges are usually suitable for many building science, electrical,
or mechanical applications, but often not suitable for process, NDT or many
R&D applications. There are a great number of more complicated, higher
priced systems, that can inspect objects in excess of 2000°C.
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performance.
The MDTD (Minimum Detectable Temperature Difference) test is the best test
to compare the sensitivity of the entire system as it takes the entire system
into consideration. This test requires a technician to be able to see a
temperature difference using the visible image of the camera. When
comparing systems, one must be sure that the figures given by the
manufacturer are from the same type of test. Your application will determine
which test is the best to help you choose the right camera system.
Spatial Resolution
These values are given by the manufacturer but are dependent on the lens
used on the camera. Some cameras do not offer interchangeable lenses,
which means that the values are fixed. With other camera systems, there are
a variety of interchangeable lenses available. Each camera/lens configuration
has a separate set of spatial resolution specifications. These specifications
describe the performance of the entire system. Manufacturers often stress the
size of the detector, which is only a piece of the information necessary to
determine what the system can see. A camera with a 320 X 240 focal plane
array may or may not be able to see better spatial resolution than a 160 X 120
detector, depending on the optics of the specific system.
Field of view (FOV) – The total area that our camera sees is defined by the
FOV value given by the manufacturer for each specific lens/camera system.
This value is determined by a combination of detector size and lens optics as
well as camera design. This specification is usually given in degrees. Various
applications may require that the technician can view a certain object in its
entirety at a set distance. Once the FOV requirements of your specific
application have been defined, you can compare various camera FOV
specifications to determine the right camera/lens combination for your
application. As an example, in an ongoing NDT test, the technician must look
at a 2m by 2m composite panel and be able to image the entire panel in one
field of view for later analysis. The camera being considered has a field of view
specification of 20° X 20°. This camera does not have interchangeable lenses.
The distance available from the panel is 4.5 meters. The formula to determine
the area viewed by this camera is:
To change the field of view in degrees to radians you must multiply the angle
in degrees by .0175 (1 degree = .0175 radians, so, in this example, 20° = .35
radians).
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The smaller the IFOV number, the better the resolution your camera/lens
combination will have when examining small objects in the field of view. In
your application requirements, you must determine the smallest object you will
need to image and the maximum distance you will be viewing the object from.
Once this is decided, you can examine the specifications of various cameras to
determine which one will perform best for your application needs. The formula
to determine this spot size is:
In this case, the camera considered above is capable of seeing or imaging this
2cm conductor at 1.25 meters.
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thermal resolution.
The IMFOV defines the smallest area or object size that you can evaluate, and
still accurately measure the radiated energy from that area or object, at any
specific distance. If the area or object is not large enough, the energy the
camera sees from the spot will be eclipsed by energy from the background and
the camera will not calculate the actual temperature of that object or area.
The IMFOV is defined by an angle that is usually given in milliradians because
of its small size. Many manufacturers do not publish this value despite its
obvious importance when trying to calculate the temperature of small objects
in the field of view.
Using the example in the section above on the IFOV, we will consider a spot
size of 2cm at a distance of 1.75 meters. Let’s assume that this camera is
better than average and the IMFOV is only 3 times that of the IFOV. This gives
us an IMFOV for the above camera of 4.2 milliradians.
This reveals that the above considered camera cannot accurately determine
the temperature of a spot any smaller than 5.25cm at 1.25 meters.
Wavelength
Today there are basically three different wavelength camera systems generally
available. The longwave system uses a band width of approximately 8–14
microns. The shortwave or midwave system utilizes approximately the 2–6
micron window. The nearIR camera views approximately the 0.9–1.75 micron
range. There are a number of specialty applications that require a camera
system which utilizes a specific narrow wavelength band. An example of this is
the “gas camera,” which has the ability to see fugitive emissions in
petrochemical plants. This application requires a shortwave, cold shielded,
filtered camera.
There are a number of application specific cameras and filters available utilizing
specific wavelength regions. Theoretically, a longwave system is better for
normal, near-ambient temperatures, whereas a shortwave system works better
on above-ambient temperatures. The nearIR system will only work on objects
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Frame Rate
While the frame rate is not usually an important consideration in PdM type
applications, it can be a very important specification in many NDT and R&D
applications, as well as some quality assurance situations. A frame rate of
30Hz or 60Hz is the standard on many handheld systems. For most electrical,
mechanical and even process applications, this difference is not usually
significant. Today there are systems available, that when windowed, can
capture over 1000 frames per second. In a research application, where the
burn-in time on a component is only .25 seconds, frame rate can be a primary
consideration.
This also requires specialized, auxiliary hardware and a software package that
is capable of capturing images at this rate and analyzing them using a number
of various software functions. The requirements of your application concerning
frame rate and analysis issues must be clearly defined before starting a
consideration of any infrared camera system.
Camera Controls – For almost all applications, an infrared camera must have
manual focus level, and span controls. Without being able to control the level
and the span manually, many thermal anomalies will not be seen in the
infrared image, especially in electrical inspections where there are often hotter
objects, such as transformers and resistors. In AGC (automatic gain control)
with no manual override, the camera looks at all the energy levels in the field
of view and automatically adjusts the level and the span in the camera,
constantly changing the settings on the image. This means that whenever the
field of view changes, you cannot really compare anything from image to
image. In an electrical inspection with a small hot transformer in the image,
you will lose all of the thermal detail on the connections and conductors.
Manual focus allows the operator to get a good image of the object of interest
in the field of view. Most infrared cameras have a very shallow depth of field.
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Battery Life – The life of the battery, and the cost of extra batteries, can be
important considerations in a portable application.
Remote Control Capability – Today there are some systems available with
remote wireless image capture and camera control. This can be a crucial
consideration in some applications where a hostile environment is present.
Accessories
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Software
Infrared camera software can perform three basic functions. Software can
control camera/data acquisition functions, image analysis, and reporting. Most
handheld cameras come with analysis and reporting type software only. Today
many higher-end cameras can still be portable, but allow for functions such as
sequence image capture, and acquisition triggering to be controlled through a
laptop computer. Most manufacturers have demo software or will have a sales
person come to your location with a functioning copy of the software on their
computer. Before purchasing a camera, make sure that you test the software
to ensure that it performs the tasks necessary for your application easily and
expediently.
Warranty and support considerations are also application driven. There is also
a “gut feeling” factor that should come into play.
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The other part of the warranty principle is how long can you be without your
infrared camera working in your specific application? It has been known to
take over six months to get a camera repaired due to a number of complicated
issues. The manufacturer would not supply a loaner camera, and the only
option the camera owner had was to rent a similar camera at an exorbitant
price. The buyer should be realistic in his expectations, but should not settle
for less than is necessary. If the longest you can operate without a camera is
two weeks, then part of the purchase agreement should include a clause that,
in the event of warranty issues, the unit is either replaced within two weeks or
a free loaner is supplied until your camera is repaired. With some specialty
cameras this is often not a viable expectation. You should then look at all of
the options suggested by the various manufacturers and select the one most
appropriate for your application.
In determining how important the warranty issue is, you should also consider
the rigors of the application itself. If your application requires a fixed-
mounted, long-wave, microbolometer, Focal Plane Array camera, in a gentle
environment, then warranty may not be a large issue. These cameras have
basically no moving parts, and if they do not fail during burn-in times, then
they have been known to operate flawlessly for years.
Summary
To choose the best infrared camera for your application, you must have an
intimate knowledge of the thermal requirements of your specific situation. The
camera specifications must match the application requirements. If they do not
meet these needs, despite an attractive price or incredible warranties, the
camera should not be considered. Do not be lured by promises of future
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upgrades or features that are not available today, unless a money-back, time-
dependent, written guarantee is provided. The second variable that should be
considered is the practicality of a specific camera due to its design and
functionality. A camera that is hard to use, and difficult to attain results from,
will often spell disaster for your application. Although important, price is the
last consideration in purchasing an infrared camera. If all other factors are
even, then price may be the determining factor, but it should not be the
driving force behind your choice.
©2012 Reliabilityweb.com
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